In search of revenge, 'Jacks Battle Incarnate Word Thursday Night

2017-02-09T04:43:28Z2017-02-09T04:43:28Z

SFA Athletics

NACOGDOCHES, TX (Press Release)

FAST BREAK POINTS• Just one game out of first place in the Southland Conference standings, Stephen F. Austin returns to William R. Johnson Coliseum for its first of two home games in the month of February to host league adversary Incarnate Word at 8:00 p.m. Thursday night. American Sports Network will televise the Southland Conference clash locally and nationally while the Southland Digital Network is set to carry the tilt via online video stream. Calling the seventh all-time meeting between the ‘Jacks and Cardinals will be Randy McIlvoy and Jim Haller.

• Locally, KTPN The Z (antenna 47.1/51.2, SuddenLink 9/109) out of the Tyler/Longview area will be carrying the game. Nationwide television coverage will be provided on CSN Chicago Plus (DirecTV 665-1 or Dish 442/9580).

• Over the radio waves, fans came tune their FM dials to Q107.7 in the Nacogdoches area or head to q1077.com or the TuneIn app on Apple and Android devices to hear Rob Meyers and Tyler DePascal broadcast the second of two meetings between the ‘Jacks and Cardinals in 2016-17.

• William R. Johnson Coliseum is the site of the nation’s longest college basketball in-conference winning streak. Beginning with a 33-point win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 25, 2012, SFA has won 43-straight Southland Conference games in the facility. Of those wins, all but six have come by 10 or more points.

• Incarnate Word was responsible for giving the ‘Jacks one of their four Southland Conference losses this season. It was the Cardinals’ first win over SFA in program history, but in Thursday night’s shot at revenge SFA has history on its side. The last time a current Southland Conference opponent swept a two-game regular season series against Stephen F. Austin was during the 2006-07 season when both Sam Houston State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi won both of their games against the ‘Jacks.

SCOUTING INCARNATE WORD | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS• Nearly 30-percent of the Cardinals’ offense in the 2016-17 campaign has come via the three-point shot. Incarante Word is the most accurate three-point shooting team in the Southland Conference, connecting on 38.4-percent of their tries from that distance. Junior Shawn Johnson leads the way in that department, having put in 43.3-percent of his downtown attempts while averaging 2.6 three-pointers per game. Both of those figures put him among the top five in the 13-team league in those categories.

• Armed with three of the top ten scorers in the Southland Conference, the Cardinals boast the league second-best offensive attack and are putting in points at a rate of 77.2 per game. Simi Socks (15.9 ppg) ranks fifth in the league in scoring while teammates Shawn Johnson (15.2 ppg) and Jalin Hart (14.9 ppg) sit seventh and 10th respectively.

• Facilitating the Cardinals’ offense is junior Jalin Hart who passes out assists at a rate of 4.8 per game. That represents the league’s third-highest assist-per-game mark and Hart makes it a point to take care of the ball as well. In possession of an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.9, Hart ranks third among all conference players in that department.

• One of the top interior defensive stoppers in the Southland Conference, junior Devin Wyatt has turned aside a total of 51 field goal attempts by the Cardinals’ opponents in 2016-17. That works out to a blocks per game average of 2.3 which is the second-best among all student-athletes in the 13-team league.

• Incarnate Word’s 70-68 win over the SFA on January 21 was the second in a series of four-straight wins for the Cardinals. Now, however, UIW has dropped back-to-back games and is trying to dodge its second losing streak of three or more games this season.

• The Cardinals are one of four current Southland Conference teams who have never won a game inside William R. Johnson Coliseum. They are joined in that list by Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist and New Orleans and the Cardinals’ margin of defeat in their three games inside the ‘Jacks’ home facility stands at 20.3 points.

LAST TIME vs. INCARNATE WORD | UIW 70, SFA 68 | FULL RECAP + BOX SCORE• Senior Dallas Cameron put SFA up by one, 68-67, by hitting a pair of free throws with 27 seconds to go, but the Cardinals’ Shawn Johnson hit a corner three-pointer with 4.8 seconds left which lifted UIW to a 70-68 win over SFA in McDermott Convocation Center.

• The loss proved to be SFA’s first - and thus far only - of the season when holding a lead at the half. The ‘Jacks’ owned a 32-31 edge over UIW at the break.

•SFA totaled season-lows in three-pointers made (two), three-point field goal percentage (12.5%) and assists (six) in the loss.

• The loss for SFA occurred despite allowing just 39 field goal attempts - the lowest number of opponent shots the ‘Jacks have allowed in a game this season.

LAST TIME OUT• Embroiled in their first overtime affair since Nov. 18, 2014, the ‘Jacks went shot-for-shot with Northwestern State in the five-minute overtime frame, finally getting a layup from Ty Charles with 1.7 seconds left to finish off a 75-73 victory over the Demons last Saturday evening.

• The win was SFA’s first in an overtime contest since a 77-75 triumph over VCU for the program’s first NCAA Tournament win back on March 21, 2014. SFA’s two-point win over Northwestern State allowed the ‘Jacks to even their all-time record in overtime games at 35-35.

• Outside of Charles’ layup that finally took down the Demons, the ‘Jacks never had the lead in the five-minute overtime period.

• Four ‘Jacks finished in double-figures during the victory which was SFA’s second true road win of 2016-17.

• Charles played all 45 minutes of the ‘Jacks’ overtime win. Those 45 minutes logged by the junior were the most by an SFA player in a single game since Antonio Bostic played all 45 in a 62-58 overtime win against Nicholls in William R. Johnson Coliseum on Feb. 8, 2012.

• Senior Dallas Cameron tied a career-high by putting in a team-best 16 points. Of his 16, 13 came in the first half and his final three came via a three-pointer from the far wing that tied matters at 73 with 32 ticks remaining in overtime.

• Sophomore TJ Holyfield scored 15 for SFA to go along with five rebounds, five assists, three blocked shots and three steals. In the overtime session, the Albuquerque, N.M., product assisted on Cameron’s game-tying three and on Charles’ game-winning layup. Of SFA’s 10 points in the five-minute frame, all but three were scored or assisted by Holyfield.

• Of the ‘Jacks’ 75 points, just 12 came from their bench players. It was SFA’s second-lowest bench scoring total in a game this season, but Northwestern State received zero points from their reserves. The Demons were the second SFA opponent this season to not get any points from their bench with the other being Texas A&M-Corpus Christi back on Jan. 19.

• Down by four points with 1:34 left in regulation, the ‘Jacks received a layup from Holyfield and a pair of free throws from Ivan Canete to tie things up and forced overtime. In the last 94 seconds of the second half, SFA’s defense forced a turnover and forced Northwestern State to miss the only field goal it attempted.

• SFA took its largest lead of the game in the second half when Charles led the ‘Jacks on a 10-2 run. The junior scored or assisted on all 10 of SFA’s points in that surge and on defense SFA held Northwestern State scoreless for 6:26.

• Although the ‘Jacks took part in their longest game of the season, they committed only 15 personal fouls - the lowest single-game total by SFA in the 2016-17 season.

• Canete’s 11-game streak with at least one steal per game came to an end in Natchitoches. Saturday evening’s Southland Conference showdown marked the first time since SFA’s neutral site tilt against Southern Miss on Dec. 23 that Canete did not register a steal.

• Freshman Kevon Harris tied a career high by racking up two of SFA’s five blocked shots in the win. Three of his five outings of two more more blocked shots have been against foes from the state of Louisiana.

• The win was SFA’s ninth in a row against their rivals from Natchitoches, La. That’s the ‘Jacks’ third-longest active winning streak against a current Southland Conference foe. SFA has won 14 in a row against Central Arkansas and 11 straight against Houston Baptist.

• Still the only Southland Conference team that owns a winning record against SFA, Northwestern State’s advantage in the all-time series was cut to 65-61 with the ‘Jacks’ latest victory. SFA’s nine-game winning streak against the Demons is the second-longest by any team in the all-time series. From Jan. 6, 1997, until Jan. 3, 2002, Northwestern State win 11 in a row against SFA.

COMING UP NEXT • In their final home appearance in the month of February, the ‘Jacks will be well-rested when Lamar pays a visit to William R. Johnson Coliseum for an 8:00 p.m. showdown on Thursday, Feb. 16.

• That tilt with the Cardinals will be SFA’s first action in seven days. It also marks the third and final time this season that SFA will have a layoff of seven or more days between regular season contests.

• SFA has won eight in a row against the Cardinals, beginning with a 79-43 win in Nacogdoches on Jan. 3, 2013. Lamar will attempt to win its first game inside William R. Johnson Coliseum since Jan. 20, 2006. On that date, the Cardinals exited SFA’s home court with a 70-65 win.